The Adventure Saga: Enlightening the Soul
by Amy47101
Summary: "I guess we all have flaws, and yeah, I can't fix your life... but maybe I can make it a little better." Everyone said that she could never live up to the expectations of a dexholder. To Lyra, insults were nothing. She just wanted to make everyone happy, from the confused heart of a Masked Rocket to the haunted soul of stoic Silver. Lyra is Lyra. She just wants to see them smile.
1. Rumored to Not be Right

**Should I or should I not? Eh, why not? Hello, reviewers! Since I left you hanging oh so evilly in Leaf Green, I am publishing THIS: ****_The Adventure Saga: Enlightening the Soul. _****Yes, yes, I AM writing this while writing ****_The Reality of Serenity, _****But these two stories do NOT happen at the same time. This takes place THREE years after ****_The Beginning with Leaf Green_****, whereas ****_The Reality of Serenity _****takes place five years.**

**If you are not confused, continue reading.**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

Some say that some souls are to dark to be fixed, whereas others are brightened with so much light that they must give it to others.

That's what Lyra Kotone believes about herself. Brighter than all the rest, even in the darkest of times. That's all she _has _to believe about herself. There were so many obvious flaws in this fourteen-year-old teenager that sometimes it was hard to look past them.

First off, she was a terrible liar, which can be a good thing... except when friends beg her to cover their tracks. Secondly, 'klutz' could be her middle name. One would not believe how many times she fell tripping down her own stairs. Third, she was way to irresponsible, always loosing her pokégear or something of the sort. Fourth, she wasn't particularly good at, well, _anything. _

Her two closest friends, Ethan Hibiki and Krystal Quartz-or, Krys, as the serious tomboy insists upon being called- are both terrific at something. Ethan was almost an natural at breeding pokémon, which she did not find surprising, considering he spent half his fifteen-year-old lifetime with his grandparents who were both, surprise, surprise, breeders. Krys was an expert catcher. She trained by herself when she was younger, and thus knew the areas of pokémon inside and out. If someone wanted a shiny eevee, she could probably catch you a shiny eevee.

So the day Lyra Kotone received a letter from Prof. Elm that she was one of the chosen three to get a pokémon, well, ecstatic barely described how she felt. Someone wanted her to be a part of a huge project! She was _needed _for something!

Her excitement was quickly dashed, though, when rumors began filtering around small New Bark Town. _He probably chose her because he had no others. She has no skills. Why would he possibly want her? She's to childish. To irresponsible. To immature. _Even her own mother expressed her concerns: _I just don't feel my daughter is ready for this. I may ask the professor to call off the suggestion..._

She was fourteen for Arceus' sake! Lyra knew she may be a bit childish to some people, but her overall goal was to bring light and life into everyone's life. She was just a happy person, and that was that.

What was so wrong with being happy?

o.0.o.0.o

"I swear..." grumbled a woman as she waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs. "Lyra! Wake up, you're gonna be late!"

"I am up. Up and ready." a voice from the top of the stair said quietly. Slowly, Lyra began to walk down the stairs, wearing a red, long sleeved T-shirt with a white hood, a black tank top underneath. White socks went up to her thighs, a black band around the top, red sneakers on her feet. Her signature overalls finished off the outfit. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Lyra." her mother said as the young girl sat down to the breakfast bar. Placing a plate of food in front of her, her mother stared almost disapprovingly as her daughter ate. Lyra swallowed.

"Yeah?" the teenager asked, feeling the heavy gaze of her mother.

"Your pokégear came back from the shop today." immediately, Lyra's face brightened.

"Really?" her mother responded by sliding the pink device across the counter to an eagerly awaiting Lyra.

"Krystals and Ethans numbers are already in there, as are mine, and please," she watched in amazement as Lyra quickly scooped up, grabbing her yellow bag and her big white marshmellow hat, shoving it on her head, all at the same time. Soon she was up and out the door, her mother shouting the last words behind her. "Don't let it go through the washer again!"

o.0.o.0.o

The fifteen-year-old redhead stared into the window, smirking behind his mask as he observed the professor busy himself with research, leaving the rare pokémon unattended. As much as he hated the dreaded mask on his face, he had to keep it on if he planned on following his plan. Slowly, he eased the window open slipping in with his Sneasel, unnoticed.

Slowly, he eased himself along the wall, quiet, careful to conceal his presence in the shadows. He glanced at his Sneasel for a quick look to see if the pokémon he stole oh so long ago wasn't going to back out on him now. Of course, he knew she wouldn't. He trained her to be obedient, to follow his every order.

Over the hustle and bustle of working lab assistants, the boy eased himself so that he was hanging over the lights lining the ceiling, the only way to catch him was if someone looked up. Which was unlikely. Right over the starters, her slowly unfolded himself and began to lower his hand towards them. Just a little closer...

"Prof. Elm~!" a female voice rang out, cutting off his attempt. Scowling and muttering a silent curse, he went back to his original position over the lights, hidden and out of sight. Silently cursing, he studied the individual who walked in. A brunette girl with pigtails, brown eyes, and a ridiculous marshmellow hat jogged in, panting, but smiling nonetheless. "Hey! I'm here!"

"Hi, Lyra! I've been waiting for you!" Prof. Elm exclaimed, bushing his glasses up his nose. The boy took this in for a second. _Lyra. _What was she doing here? "Do you know anything about my research? As you know, Pokémon are carried in Poké Balls these days. But before Poké Ball was invented, people used to walk with Pokémon. Just like your friend Ethan does!"

The redheaded thief scowled. Walking with your pokémon? It screams _weak. _Pokéballs were invented to lock up pokémon. Why lock them up if you're going to let them out and walk with you?

"Poké Balls are great because you can carry many Pokémon." Prof. Elm continued. "But walking with Pokémon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how Pokémon grow or evolve..." he trailed off thoughtfully.

"And maybe it could make you better friends with your pokémon!" Lyra exclaimed excitedly. Again the Masked Teen rolled his eyes. _Weak._

"Exactly! So I'm going to give you a Pokémon! Can you walk beside this Pokémon, outside of its Pokéball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between Pokémon and people? The device over there has some Pokémon you could choose from..." he gestured towards the three pokéballs on the panel. The teenager scowled. _She _was what all the rumors of trainers was? _She _was supposed to receive a pokémon and a pokédex? He snapped his head back to attention as Lyra walked up to the panel, eyeing the the pokéballs curiously.

"Um... Geez, it's such a hard choice. I guess I'll..." she closed her eyes, covering them with the palm of her left hand, reached out, and choose a pokéball at random. The masked boy nearly lost his precariously balanced position. She was choosing at _random? _No consideration? No thinking of the future? _Nothing? _What in the name of Arceus was wrong with this girl? "Choose you!" she tossed the pokéball in the air, releasing... _whatever _she choose from the inside.

"Chik-a!" Chikorita cried happily. Immediately, Lyra's face lit up.

"You're adorable!" she cried, reaching out to pet its head. "I'm Lyra, Chikorita!"

"_Arceus..." _the teenager thought. "_So giddy... Is she trying to make her pokémon weak?!"_

"So you like Chikorita, the grass type?" Prof. Elm asked. Lyra turned to him, beaming.

"Yes! I love... uh..."

"Her." Prof. Elm said.

"Yeah, I love her! We'll be great friends, right, Chikorita?"

"Chik-a!" Chikorita cried happily.

"So, how do you like walking with your Pokémon? It's not bad, is it? Now- Oh, hey! I got an email!" hie eyes scanned over the page, taking in the information "... Hm... Uh-huh... OK..." while he read, Chikorita glanced up, straight at the boy. He grimaced, as Lyra turned her gaze upwards as well. Her eyes widened, and then her mouth open in horror. No doubt because of the mask on his face. He _hated _the mask, but he had to keep it on. Slowly, she closed her mouth, swallowed, and turned her head down. Was she going to alert the professor...?

"Listen," Prof. Elm said, turning back to her. "I have this acquaintance that people call Mr. Pokémon. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries. Anyway, I just got an email from him saying that this time it's real. It's probably another Pokémon Egg, but we're still so busy with our Pokémon research... Wait! I know! You can go in our place, right? Can we count on you?"

"O-Of course!" Lyra exclaimed. "No need to worry!"

"Excellent!" Prof. Elm cried, not noticing that she was blatantly lying. The masked boy nearly slammed his head into the ceiling. Was the professor that trusting or just stupid? But then again... he _did _leave his windows unlocked and rare pokémon sitting out in the open... "How do you like walking with your Pokémon? It's not bad, is it?"

"It's great!" Lyra exclaimed.

"You can take her all the way to Mr. Pokémon's house. If your Pokémon gets hurt... You should heal it with this machine. It's so easy to use. Just check the PC on my desk! Mr. Pokémon goes everywhere and finds rarities. His house is past Cherrygrove City. Go north a little past Cherrygrove. I'm counting on you."

"Like I said, no need to worry!" exclaimed Lyra, shooting a quick glance back up at him and his sneasel. He stiffened, but didn't move. As quick as she came in though, she left, not saying a word about him.

He let out a low sigh of relief as the lab door slid shut behind her. Slowly, he uncurled himself from his positioning, getting ready to snatch the pokémon he wanted, but stopped as a burst of pain exploded through his abdomen. He hissed, retreating to his original position over the lighting once again. Slowly, he brought a black gloved hand up to his waist, feeling a sticky liquid stain through his jacket. He let out a low growl of irritation. The painkillers were wearing out...

"Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way..." he muttered to his Sneasel, pulling a smoke ball out of his pocket. "So much for 'little to no distraction'..."

o.0.o.0.o

"Finally! We made it, Chikorita!" Lyra exclaimed as she looked at the mailbox marked 'Mr. Pokémon' on the side. After the long journey of dealing with Guide Gent, trainers, and a seriously sad and lonely man, Lyra gained some items, but also lost some time. From guide Gent, she got the map app for her pokégear, and the trainers, some traveling money. From the sad and lonely man, she received a strange stone that shined brilliantly.

Regardless, she was at her destination, and she couldn't be happier. She reached up and knocked on the door.

No answer. She reached out and rang the doorbell.

Again, no answer.

"What the-"

"Ah, hello!" a sharply dressed man said, opening the door with a goofy grin. "You must be the girl Prof. Elm was talking about! Come in, come in!" Lyra nodded happily, following after the man. As the door shut behind her, she was careful to step of the computer cables strewn carelessly across the floor.

"Who was at the door?" another elderly man asked from the table, sipping absentmindedly at his tea. Mr. Pokémon ignored him for a moment, carefully carrying his discovery over to Lyra.

"This is what I want Prof. Elm to examine." he said, gently passing the object to Lyra. Lyra took it, and let out a small gasp as a burst of cold went across her hands. It was an egg. A yellow egg with a black blotch on the front that was outlined with red. "I got it from a group of friends... I was intrigued, so I sent mail to Prof. Elm. For Pokémon evolution, Prof. Elm is the authority. Even Prof. Oak here recognizes that. If my assumption is correct, Prof. Elm will know it."

"Wait, Prof. Oak?!" exclaimed Lyra, momentarily looking away from the egg and up at the man across the table. Said man turned, letting out a chuckle.

"Aha! So you're Lyra! I'm Samuel Oak! A Pokémon researcher. I was just visiting my old friend émon, but I heard you were running an errand for , so I waited here." he took noticed of the Chikorita sitting next to Lyra. "Oh! What's this? A rare Pokémon! Let's see…" he picked up Chikorita, holding her for a moment, almost as if examining her. "Hm, I see! I understand why gave you a Pokémon for this errand. To researchers like and I, Pokémon are our friends."

"Of course!" Lyra exclaimed. "I feel the same way!" Prof. Oak laughed.

"He saw that you would treat your Pokémon with love and seem to be dependable. How would you like to help me out?"

"Sure!" Lyra said, never one to refuse a request. Prof. Oak pulled out a sleek red device, passing it to her. Lyra stared at it curiously.

"See? This is the latest version of Pokédex. It automatically records data on Pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a hi-tech encyclopedia! I want you to go and meet many kinds of Pokémon and complete that Pokédex!" he let out an exasperated sigh. "But I've stayed too long. I have to get to Goldenrod for my usual radio show. Lyra, I'm counting on you!" he said, walking out the door. Lyra sat for a moment before hopping up.

"I've gotta get back to Prof. Elm!" she exclaimed. She got up, careful not to drop the egg, and reached out to her hand in an offering handshake towards Mr. Pokémon. "I'm sure Prof. Elm will be interested in this!" The older man accepting the handshake heartily.

"Anytime lass!" he laughed, sending her off. As soon as Mr. Pokémon shut the door behind her, her pokégear rang. Bringing it from her bag, she stared at the number curiously, not recognizing it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"_H-Hello? Lyra?_"

"Oh, Prof. Elm!" Lyra exclaimed. "I'm heading back now, see Mr. Pokémon-"

"_Lyra, It's a disaster! Uh, um, it's just terrible! What should I do? It... Oh, no..." _there was a long pause.

"Prof. Elm?!" Lyra exclaimed, slightly alarmed by the franticness in his voice.

_"Please get back here now!"_

o.0.o.0.o

**Oooooh, cliffie on de first chapter! You can hate me. XD**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	2. Won't Look Back

**So I'm updating this again. Hope you enjoy!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

Adrenaline was almost as good as painkillers, the Masked Teenager realized. As he jogged away from the now smoking building, he felt no pain at all, at least, not very much. Nothing he couldn't handle. Sirens of police motorcycles wailed past him, ignoring him as he ran away from the scene. _Idiots._

He was at the outskirts of Cherrygrove City when the adrenaline finally wore off, and pain hit him like a wave. He leaned against the fencepost, trying to regain his strength. He had to at least get to Violet City if he wanted to get treated. He was a traveller from the Dark Cave... he got attacked in there... that was his excuse. But no one would believe him if he sought out help in Cherrygrove. Why would he head to the city farther away?

"Ohmagosh!" he heard a female voice, and then a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?!" he growled, jerking back, recognizing Lyra through the slits in his mask. He glanced down at the Chikorita.

"You got a Pokémon at the Lab. What a waste. That's a Pokémon that's too good for a wimp like you." she cocked her head to the side curiously.

"Pardon?" she asked, though not backing off. He let out a low growl.

"Don't you get what I'm saying?" she shook her head.

"Not really. All I know is that you're hurt! You need help." he scowled behind his mask, though she couldn't see it.

"I don't need your help! I too have a good Pokémon." he tossed a pokéball in the air, releasing his Cyndaquil. It let out a low growl, flames bursting on his back. "I'll show you what I mean!" Lyra's face brightened.

"You got a pokémon from Prof. Elm too!" she exclaimed happily. He nearly fell over. Did she _not _see him sneaking around the lab? Not preparing to steal one? Did she honestly think that Prof. Elm gave it to him? "It's adorable!"

"It's not supposed to be 'adorable'! It's supposed to be menacing!" he exclaimed angrily. How dare she call them adorable!

"Oh, geez... Fine...Let's battle, Chikorita!"

"Pathetic." he growled under his breath. "Cyndaquil, Ember!"

"Oh no! Are you alright, Chikorita?" Lyra asked as Chikorita flew back, trying to put her now flaming leaf out.

"Chik-a!" she exclaimed, the leaf now sporting some minor singe marks, but seemed otherwise fine. She began glaring determinedly at the Cyndaquil she knew, quite literally, since she hatched from her egg. How wonderful it was to finally rival him!

"Okay, Poison Powder!" Lyra exclaimed. Chikorita whipped her leaf in front of her, sending purple powder through the air, dusting over Cyndaquil. The fire-type let out a squeak, shuddering from the poison.

"Cyndaquil, you will _not _let some silly little powder take you down! Use Ember again!"

"Razor Leaf!" Lyra exclaimed, watching as leaves slashed through Cyndaquil, though some of the leaves burned under Cyndaquils flames on his back. "Tackle!"

"Ember!"

"Dodge it!" Lyra exclaimed. Chikorita skillfully jumped around thee flames, and rammed into Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil. Get _up." _he growled, becoming more and more annoyed by the minute. He wasn't going to let this _weakling _beat him!

"Your Cyndaquil..." Lyra said. "He fainted..." she stood thoughtfully for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I know! Here," she held out an Oran Berry to the teen, awaiting him to take it. "That'll heal up his HP, but..." she trailed off, looking up at the trainer. "You might wanna take him to the pokémon center for the poison... and get your injuries checked as well..." The boys fists shook at his sides, rage boiling in him. He smacked the berry away, returning his fallen pokémon.

"I already said I didn't need your help!" he growled. "Are you happy you won?"

"Well, yeah! It's always good to win... but sometimes I feel bad for the pokémon that fainted, you know..." Lyra said thoughtfully.

"That was a rhetorical question!" he growled in exasperation. "And you purely out of luck! If Cyndaquil was stronger, more resistant to the poison..." She blinked.

"What's your name?" she asked. "I'm Lyra!" He was on the verge of slamming his head into the fencepost. There was no getting through to this girl.

"You want to know who I am? I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer." he growled, shoving her to the side and onto the ground. Lyra blinked, staring as his red head as he walked away. She glanced down at the ground, and saw a small square of plastic. Of course, she recognized it as a Trainer Card, and picked it up, wondering if it was possible that there was someone as careless as herself to loose such an important item.

"Silver..." she read aloud, standing up.

"Give that back!" the red head said, snatching the item away before she could catch a glimpse of his picture. "That's my trainer card!"

"S-Silver!" Lyra exclaimed at the suddenness.

"Crap... You saw my name..." he muttered before he turned, sprinting away. Again, Lyra watched his red head bob away until she couldn't see him anymore. Suddenly remembering her mission, she turned, and sprinted in the direction of her hometown.

o.0.o.0.o

"Prof. Elm!" she exclaimed, walking into the police invested crime scene. The police guards glared at her angrily, wondering why a teenage girl was infiltrating with their crime investigation. She walked up to Prof. Elm, who sat in chair rubbing his temples as a policeman talked to him. Krystal stood next to him, a Totodile in her arms. "Prof. Elm, what happened?" Lyra asked. The policeman turned his head in her direction, took one glance at Chikorita, and went into instant accusing mode.

"You! That's quite a rare pokémon you have there." Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah." she responded.

"Rule number one! The guilty one always returns to the seen of the crime!" he said, finger in the air like he planned on giving her a lecture. "So that must mean..." he pointed said finger into Lyra's face, who promptly crossed her eyes to stare at the accusing gesture in front of her nose. "You are the thief who stole the pokémon!"

"What?! That doesn't even make sense!" Krystal shouted in her childhood friends defense.

"Be quiet, young miss, we are dealing with a highly dangerous criminal..." the cop trailed, watching as a rather angry Ethan stomped up to him, his marill-a gift from Krys- following behind him.

"Seriously! Listen to Krys for a minute, and listen to me! She had nothing to do with it! We saw it! It was a red-haired kid!"

"Wearing a weird mask." Krys nodded in confirmation, coming up to Lyra. The cops looked between the three.

"A red haired kid in a weird mask... You must mean Silver!" Lyra exclaimed, before clamping a hand over her mouth. She didn't mean to give Silver away...

"What...?" the cop asked.

"Uh... Um, I battled a boy like that." Lyra said. "His name was Silver."

"Huh." the cop mused. "What did the mask look like?"

"It was completely white, with a weird smile on it..." Lyra said. "I didn't catch any details of his face."

"Two upturned slits for eyes and one downturned slit for a smile." Krys said.

"Sorta like a joker." Ethan added helpfully. The cop nodded, jotting these notes down on his notepad.

"Okay, thank you. Surely this will help with our investigation!" exclaimed the cop, calling to his coworkers, and promptly leaving the building. There was a long silence before Lyra spoke.

"Prof. Elm, what happened?"

"I'm not to sure myself. Suddenly, the lab was engulfed in smoke! The police said it was smoke ball..." Prof. Elm shook his head with a sigh.

"That redheaded boy, Silver," Krys said. "Ran off with Cyndaquil. I grabbed Tododile to go after him, but he got away..."

"You did what you could." Ethan nodded.

"I'm sorry, Ethan. One of the three was supposed to be yours... but Lyra took Chikorita and I don't think I'll be separating Tododile from Krystal anytime soon..."

"It's fine, really!" Ethan said, waving his hand in front of his face. "I've got my Marill from Krys, so nothing to worry about." This seemed to relieve the stress from Prof. Elms face as he turned back to Lyra.

"So what was Mr. Pokémons discovery?" he asked her. Said girl brought out the egg, holding it out to Prof. Elm. He widened his eyes at it while Krys examined it with an observing eye. Ethan let out a low whistle.

"That certainly isn't an egg from Johto." he said, his breeding knowledge kicking in. "In fact, I don't even think it's from Kanto!"

"Still, though... it's just an egg. Mr. Pokémon is always fascinated by eggs." he paused, taking it from her. "Well, since he gave it to us, we might as well find out what secret it holds. I'll keep it for a while to find out about the egg."

"One more thing!" Lyra said, pulling out the pokédex. "Prof. Oak gave me this."

"What?! Professor Oak gave you a Pokédex? Lyra, is that true?" Prof. Elm exclaimed. Lyra simply held up the said device higher. "Th-that's incredible! He is superb at seeing the potential of people as Trainers."

"Prof. Elm requested three pokédex, but one got stolen so another had to be built." Krys said, pulling out her own.

"We got the first two... But you met Prof. Oak and received it from him firsthand! That's great, Lyra!" Ethan said. Lyra smiled, though feeling surprisingly hurt knowing that she was chosen of the three to get a pokédex. Swallowing the emotion back, she smiled.

"Glad I got it in time then, huh?" she said, elbowing Krys jokingly.

"Your Pokémon seem to really like you," Prof. Elm mused, watching as Chikorita stood affectionately next to her "So why don't you...take the Pokémon Gym challenge? If you manage to defeat all the Gym Leaders, you'll eventually challenge the Pokémon League Champion!" he paused. "Or not!" he laughed at his joke, and everyone laughed along to humor him, even though Lyra felt strangely insulted with that.

"Becoming the Champion is not at all easy, but you can certainly challenge Violet City's Gym." Krys said. "I on the other hand, am going to work towards completing the pokédex."

"Oh, and Lyra!" Ethan exclaimed. "Challenging the Gyms scattered around will be a long journey. Before you leave, make sure that you talk to your mom." Lyra nodded, jumping up and rushing out the door.

o.0.o.0.o

"Now Lyra, maybe you could send half your winnings from your battles to me? To save for you?" her mother asked after the initial and awkward talk about how cute Chikorita was. As soon as this question left her mothers mouth, Lyra got extremely angry. Her mother didn't even want her to go on this journey in the first place! Now she wanted her to give her the money she earned and would probably need for supplies? Lyra knew that she didn't need the extra money to begin with ever since her fathers accident...

"No." Lyra said, forcing a smile. "That really won't be necessary."

"But Lyra..." her mother said, taking her daughters hands in her own. Lyra looked down at them. They seemed cold, not literally, but figuratively. "I only want to help you." she flashed a smile, and Lyra looked at her for a long time.

"No... I don't think you do..." Lyra said after a while, standing up, shaking her hands free of her mothers'.

"But Lyra, you're so irresponsible... you may-"

"That's not the point!" Lyra exclaimed. "Listen, ever since Dad died... you just blocked me out to deal with it myself! Krys was always there! Ethan was always there! You... You just pushed me away! And now you're asking for _my _money that _I'm _gonna earn! And I'm telling you no!" she stood, shoving her marshmellow hat back on her head, scooping Chikorita into her arms. Her mother rose angrily.

"Lyra Alese Kotone, are leaving me?" she asked coldly.

"Yes, I am." Lyra said, placing her hand on the doorknob.

"If you leave, you can't come back." her mother said, crossing her arms as her daughter paused. She smiled smugly as Lyra turned, taking the stairs two at a time. Crisis averted, she kept her daughter here. Lyra would never-

"I'm ready to go." she said, coming down the stairs, her yellow bag a little bulkier, a Vulpix plush hanging from her hand. "Had a few more things to pack, and I almost forgot Heart!" she held up the plush and waved it around before shoving it in her bag.

"Lyra-" her mother began, voice dripping with warning. Lyra said nothing, opening the door. "Lyra, I was serious. You leave now, don't expect to come back." Lyra paused in the threshold of the door.

"Then send my things to Krys. I'm sure she'll let me stay." she said, not turning around. "Nothing you say is going to stop me." And like that, Lyra stepped out the door, promising she wouldn't look back, she couldn't look back... but somewhere deep in her soul she had to. She was close to Ethan's house when she turned around. She looked back, but all she saw was the wooden door closed, and swore she saw her mother's shadow flitting across the inside of her room through her window. Was she already packing her things...? She was... she was seriously kicking her out?

"Chik-a?" Chikorita asked Lyra as she came to a stop, head tilted downward, shading her eyes. Slowly, Lyra shook her head, lifting her chin.

"Everything is fine, Chikorita." she said, a forced smile on her face. She set down her partner, looking cheerfully onto the route ahead. She shielded her hand with her eyes, and swore she could see Krys's blue pigtails in the distance. "See Krys and Ethan up ahead?" Chikorita squinted, and then nodded. "I'll race you to them. Ready?"

"Chik-a!" exclaimed Chikorita, crouching down and preparing to run.

"Set..." Lyra squinted. Yup, that was definitely Krys and Ethan. She would recognize those blue pigtails and black and yellow cap anywhere! "GO!" And then she sprinted, racing her new partner as quickly as she could. Away from New Bark Town, away from her mother, away from the hateful and doubtful glances. Away from the teasing and the rumors, away from everything.

And this time, she didn't look back.

o.0.o.0.o

**This seems like a good place to leave off, I guess. ^.^ **

**Okay, there were always several things that... bugged me about these games. And one of them was... the police. SERIOUSLY?! I mean, c'mon, you guys report to a stolen pokémon from Prof. Elm, but don't do a damn darned thing to stop Team Rocket? REALLY?! But WHY would they do that when they have perfectly fine CHILDREN to hunt down and stop Team Rocket for them. Then all THEY'D have to do is slap on some handcuffs and tow them away. WHICH THEY NEVER DO BECAUSE TEAM ROCKET IS ALWAYS THERE IN THE NEXT DAMN TOWN DAMMIT. **

**And also, they say that a Togepi egg is an egg that's 'not from Johto', but Togepi is a Johto originated pokémon. WHAT. THE. HELL?! So rest assured, the egg that Lyra received? NOT A TOGEPI. Besides, Togepi will belong to another protagonist in another part of the saga. And I like to give different protagonists different pokémon teams. Just to spice things up a bit. 'Cause we need to keep things AWESOME.**

** Anyways, read, review, and stay tuned! **

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	3. Unmasking Silver

**Hey everyone! I plan to update between this and the Reality of Serenity. So... enjoy!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

He was stupid, and he would admit that. Maybe, if he thought more intelligently, he wouldn't be in the situation he was in right now. What if he made his escape stealthier? What if he checked to see who was on guard duty? What if he went to a hospital or stole some medicine before going after Cyndaquil?

The world, Silver knew, was full of 'what ifs'. But asking 'what is I did this' or 'what if I did that' would not help him with the fact that he was literally bleeding to death. The irony of it all. He manages to snatch a rare starter _and _a pokédex from two idiotic professors and now he was due to die from blood loss.

The world, he had decided, must have some sick sense of humor. _Lets see how much we can fuck with Silver today! _Is probably what they are saying. He wouldn't be surprised if this day, like so many others, would be just another day in his life. Horrible enough to make any normal person want to commit suicide, if, well, he wasn't already dying of blood loss.

But Silver was no normal person. He'd be damned before he died by anyone's hand, much less his own. He laughed at suicide. He laughed at the people who committed suicide. Weak, spineless fools who couldn't deal with the hurdles of life. He hated the weak. He hated them.

Slowly, he lifted up his hand, seeing that the glove he wore was stiff with dried blood, but didn't seem to be damp with any new, fresh blood. Silver would not say he was exactly an optimist, hell, he wasn't an optimist, period. But he had to admit that, perhaps Arceus wasn't completely laughing at him. The bleeding _had _stopped, after all.

Letting out a grunt, he tried standing again. He managed to get to his knees, but then felt the cut reopen again, warm blood trickling down his side. Silver cursed, laying down again. So moving was out of the option. He ran his hands across his pokéballs. He could always rely on his pokémon for help... but not his Cyndaquil. He was sure the fire-type was not completely loyal to him yet, and had no doubt he would run off to the professor as soon as he got the chance. With a hiss, he pushed himself into sitting position, leaning against the tree and tilting his head back, making sure to focus on anything to keep awake. He wasn't sure that, if he fell asleep, if he would be able to wake up again.

Suddenly, something covered the eye slits in his mask. Fingers. Instinctively, he snatched the wrist and twisting, electing a small squeak of pain from whoever somehow managed to sneak up on him. Whoever it was did not remove her-judging from the voice- hand, his vision still obscured.

"I-I'm sorry, Silver. You were just sitting here, and I was wondering what you looked like..." his grip tightened as he recognized Lyra's voice. "You're hurting me."

"Don't touch the mask." he growled. He couldn't risk her seeing his face. What if she reported him? Slowly, he released his grip on her hand, and she pulled back.

"You still need help. Why haven't you gone to a hospital yet?"

"I wanted to get to Violet City." he said, feeling the teenaged girl pull at the zipper on his jacket. he scowled, trying to pull her hands away. "Don't touch me."

"You're bleeding!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I don't need your help." he said. Lyra ignored him, and continued to stubbornly pull at the zipper on his jacket till it fell loose around his shoulders. She pulled up his shirt, examining the bandages he wrapped haphazardly around his waist.

"Arceus... How did you treat this?" Lyra asked. He wanted so badly to give her his signature glare, but knew she wouldn't be able to see it behind his mask. He glared anyways, hoping that somehow she could feel his anger. Somehow, though, he figured her huge, naive chestnut eyes wouldn't be affected by the glare even with his mask _off._

"Hn." he said, completely brushing off her question. Lyra began unwrapping the badly done medical job, studying the gash on his side. She blinked, turning her head to the side. She dug through her bag, pulling out a washcloth and a water bottle. She poured the water onto the washcloth, and began to press it to the gash. Silver hissed, smacking her hand away. Lyra's face twisted into a frown.

"Stop that! I've gotta clean it out before I go an try to help you!"

"I said I don't want your help!" he retorted sharply, making a move to stand up, but hissing as his gash stung with the sudden movement. Lyra eased him back down. Silver expected a smug look of 'I told you so', but no. Her face expressed worry. Concern. Surprised by this and the fact he was basically sapped of strength, Silver allowed the girl to continue cleaning the injury. He studied her intently, trying to figure out why she was helping him. Did she want something from him? But what could she want? He didn't have anything worth stealing item wise. Money? He was broke. He widened his eyes. Maybe she wanted him to return the Cyndaquil and pokédex. Or even worse, to turn him in! "I'm not returning Cyndaquil, I hope you know that." She blinked, and pulled out what he recognized as a potion. Raising an eyebrow, he spoke. "Is that a potion? Aren't those supposed to be used on pokémon?"

"Don't worry, they're safe for humans!" Lyra said.

"What is it going to _do?" _

"It'll clear away an infection, like a disinfection spray, only, without the sting!" she smiled. "Plus, it'll stop the bleeding! Now hold still!" then she sprayed it up and down the cut, and surprisingly, the pain and bleeding lessened considerably, to the point where he felt he could stand. He didn't, though.

"I was serious, you know." Silver said as she re-wrapped the cut with fresh bandages. "I don't have any items, plus I'm broke. If you think I'm going to return Cyndaquil or let you turn me in..." Lyra blinked, this time, and smiled. Swiftly, she reached up, snatching the mask away from his face so quickly he didn't get time to stop her this time. He jerked back, accidentally smacking his head against the tree he was leaning against.

"As far as I remember, they're searching for a red-headed teenage boy wearing a 'joker-like mask'." She tossed the mask to the side, out of sight. "And all I see is a red-headed teenage boy with silver eyes, no mask to be seen!" Silver blinked, his face twisting into a scowl.

"You make no sense." he decided on saying, pushing himself up.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Where're you going?"

"Violet City." he responded. Lyra raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, it's getting dark! You shouldn't be traveling at night!" she exclaimed. He glared at her. "Especially if you're injured."

"And what are you gonna do to stop me?" Silver demanded, knowing he couldn't stick around Cherrygrove or New Bark for to long. He had to be one step ahead of the cops, with or without his 'joker-like mask'. Lyra pouted for a moment, before hopping up.

"I'll just follow you to Violet! I wanted to make sure you get into a hospital to get that checked! I may be able to perform the basic medical procedure, but I'm no Dayna Yellow and I don't have intensive medical knowledge. You should just get it checked to be safe, okay?" Silver scowled slightly. The last thing he needed was this weakling, who won simply because of _luck, _to follow him around just to make sure he got to Violet safely and went to a hospital. So, in response, he turned, and walked towards the woods.

"I'm going to get firewood. Since we're close to a body of water, it's going to be cold at night." Lyra nodded in agreement.

"I think I've got some extra blankets. I'll lend some to you!" she exclaimed happily, digging through her bag. Silver smirked, walking away.

Stupid, naive girl.

o.0.o.0.o

Lyra was irritated, the next morning, when Silver failed to show up without any firewood. He completely ditched her! It wasn't that she was angry... but she was annoyed that he lied.

"Ma-reep? Reep?" Lyra looked down and smiled at the little sheep that walked along side her, Chikorita safely tucked away in her pokéball.

"Aw, Mareep, you're so cute!" Lyra exclaimed, scooping up the small, recently caught electric type in a hug, burying her face into the sheep's fluffy, soft fur. Mareep responded with a positive exclamation of her name.

"Hey, Lyra!" she turned towards Krys, and grinned at her childhood friend jogged up to her.

"Hey! You look different." Lyra said, glancing over her new outfit. She wore black and yellow athletic shorts, a red tank top covered by a white, cut off jacket, and, of course, sneakers. Her white backpack on her shoulders, and pokégear around her neck while a yellow cap sat atop her head. "You usually are wearing those skirts and lab coats!"

"That's only when I'm working as Prof. Elms assistant. Can you imagine me capturing pokémon in a skirt?" Krys smirked.

"So how's your progress on the pokédex?" Lyra asked casually, walking through the city next to her. Krys smiled.

"Very well. I've captured every pokémon from New Bark to here, though I plan on sending them to Prof. Oaks laboratory if I don't want to add them as a part of my team."

"Do you have anything other than Tododile?" Krys shook her head.

"No. nothing that I want as of yet."

"Oh. Well, this is Mareep!" Lyra said, holding up the pokémon. Krys examined him expectantly.

"I don't have a Mareep yet." she said. "I planned on staying her for a few hours to rest up and eat before moving on."

"I wanted to head to the gym... but I have to get approval from the Elder in Sprout Tower first." Lyra said, looking over at the small bridge that led to the tower. Krys smiled.

"I ran into Ethan on the way here." she said. "He seemed to be surprised that neither of us came across you. Evading us?"

"Nah, just... traveling at night! Yeah, that's all." Lyra said, trying to hide the fact that she came across Silver and helped him. Krys raised an eyebrow.

"We found the mask he wore. Apparently he ditched it, somehow finding out that we were searching for a masked teenager." she said. "I wonder how he figured out this information?"

"Who knows?" Lyra shrugged with a laugh. "He must be very sly."

"Lyra, did you encounter him in the forest?" Krys asked, putting on the most serious and intimidating face she could manage.

"Nope! Not at all!" Lyra exclaimed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got a town elder to defeat! See you!" then she bolted. Krys stared after her form, watching as she entered the tower. Her pokégear rang from around her neck, and she answered it.

"Hey Ethan. Yeah I found her." she paused, listening to his exclamations of relief. "Ethan, listen. I think Lyra ran into this 'Silver' character..."

o.0.o.0.o

When Silver first entered the shrine, he was immediately bombarded by monks who wanted to shave his head and call him 'the one with cold eyes'. Almost instantly he rejected this, upon which he was challenged to a battle. Their bellsprout were easily defeated with his Cyndaquil and Sneasle. It was so easy, he almost laughed. But he did not, because Silver did not laugh.

As he plowed through monks, most who practically begged him to join them, he finally reached the elder, whom seemed to be blind, but somehow still knew of him and his presence. A challenge? Please. He plowed through him just as easily. Silver did, however, listen to the Elder as he chastised him.

"You are indeed skilled as a trainer. As promised, here is your TM. But let me say this: You should treat your Pokémon better. The way you battle is far too harsh. Pokémon are not tools of war..." Silver rolled his eyes, and snatched the device away. He turned, raising his eyebrows at the sight of Lyra.

"Hey, Silver!" she exclaimed happily. "You ditched us in the forest, but that's okay! You probably wanted to get the cut checked as soon as possible, which is totally understandable! How are you feeling? And how's Cyndaquil? Is he doing fine? Well, of course he's doing fine, you just beat the Elder! You're probably planning on taking the gym challenge, right? Anyways-" she was cut off as he slapped his black-gloved hand over her mouth.

"Please. Do us all a favor and _shut up." _he said, a temple throbbing on his head. His hand dropped to his side. Then he crossed his arms, scowling. "Humph! He claims to be the Elder," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the older man, who was currently using revives and potions to heal his fainted pokémon. "But he's weak. It stands to reason, proves my point."

"Wha? What point?" Lyra asked. Silver scowled, looking at her and then glancing at her Mareep that looked about as weak as its trainer.

"I'd never lose to fools who babble about being nice to pokémon." he responded. "I only care about strong pokémon that can win. I really could care less about weak pokémon. All they do is get in the way of my goals." He shoved past her, shoving his hands in his pockets. He felt her staring at him as he left, but he shrugged it off. Faintly, he heard the Elder greeting her. Faintly, he heard shouts and commands of battles. And faintly, he may have imagined it, since he had already maneuvered himself down to the bottom of the tower, but oh so faintly, he swore he heard Lyra's happy exclamation of victory.

o.0.o.0.o

**I guess it was kinda short, but I hope you enjoyed it! More of a filler, if anything!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	4. Hidden Potential

**Hey, I'm going to update this in between the Reality of Serenity. Hope you enjoy!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

"_Alright..." _Lyra thought as she braced herself before the gym doors. She looked down at Mareep at her feet, who glanced back up at her determinedly. Nodding to each other, Lyra slammed open the doors, eyes squeezed shut and a silly grin on her face. "MY NAME IS LYRA KOTONE AND I'M HERE TO CHALLENGE YOUR GYM!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Challenge your gym... gym... gym..." an echo answered her. Lyra blinked.

"Whaaa?" she wondered to herself. "HELLO?!"

"Hello... hello... hello..." Lyra grinned, looking down at Mareep, then cupped her hands around her mouth.

"I'M AN IDIOT!"

"I'm an idiot... idiot... idiot..." Lyra tilted her head back, laughing.

"Okay!" she said, placing her hands on her hips. "Now where's the gym leader?" She heard a small creaking noise under her feet, and glanced down at the strangely brown wooden panel she stood upon in the middle of a white tile floor. "What the...?"

She shrieked as she suddenly shot up, clutching Mareep close to her chest as he stomach lurched at the sudden movement. Quickly, the movement stopped, and Lyra took a few quick breaths. She looked over the edge and saw a man who was quite clearly smirking at her reaction.

"That..." she said, grin coming onto her face. "WAS AWESOME!"

"Awsome... awesome... awesome..." the walls echoed back.

"THANK YOU MR. GYM GUY!" Lyra exclaimed while the man evidently fell down anime style from her cheery reaction.

"Mr. Gym Guy... Gym Guy... Guy..." the walls echoed back. Lyra smiled, turning around and placing her hands on her hips, humming a song under her breath as she walked across the skinny wooden planks towards the gym leader.

"HI! MY NAME IS-"

"Lyra Kotone, yes, I know, you shouted it at the top of your lungs when you came in." Falkner said, rubbing his temples. "Please, just be quiet." Lyra clamped her mouth shut, innocently tilting her head to the side. "Alright. Thank you." Lyra nodded enthusiastically. "My name is Falkner, the gym leader of Violet City." he glanced down at Mareep, whom Lyra set next to her once she reached the battlefield. "I see you brought an electric type." his face suddenly twisted into a scowl. "People say that you can clip the wings of flying type pokémon with a jolt of electricity." his scowl turned into a look of fierce determination. "I will not allow such insults to bird type pokémon!" he tossed a pokéball in the air, releasing the Pidgey that resided inside. "I'll show you the real power of the magnificent flying types!"

"Alright! Mareep, lets go!" Lyra exclaimed happily, pointing towards Pidgey.

"Whirlwind!" Falkner commanded. Pidgey flew up, letting out gusts of wind at Mareep. Lyra watched in surprise as Mareep actually became it's red, outlined form and went back to her pokéball on her belt. Suddenly, Chikorita popped out, glancing around confusingly. She turned to her trainer.

"Chik-a?" she asked, and Lyra shrugged.

"I dunno either." she said. "But let's go with it! Use Magical Leaf!" Falkner stared somewhat dumbfounded as the colorful leafs hit his pokémon, though barely causing any damage. He decided that this girl was either completely oblivious to the type-matchup table or simply choose to ignore it. Or maybe she had some sinister and secret plan behind her giddiness...? He shook his head, blue bangs swishing across his face. Now was not the time to figure out this challenger, but to beat her!

"Pidgey, Wing Attack!" he ordered, smirking as the glowing wings slashed at the grass type. Pidgey flew back towards his trainer, but suddenly flinched, forcing a unexpected landing. Falkner raised his eyebrows. "What the?" He looked back at Lyra and her weakened Chikorita, whose leaf upon her head was glowing a slight purple, dust falling around them. "Poison Powder." he mused.

"Yay! Good job, Chikorita! Now use tackle!" the tackle slammed into Pidgey, allowing the poisonous spores to drain away the rest of his health. Flakner stared, slightly surprised. He underestimated her, definitely. She did have some sort of potential, some form of strategy hiding behind that huge marshmellow hat of hers. "Yes! Keep it up, Chikorita!"

"I will admit I underestimated you." Flakner said, grabbing at his final pokémon. Throwing it in the air, he smiled as the gift from his father popped out, a Pidgeotto. "But the wind is finally with us! Pidgeotto, use Ariel Ace!"

"Gah! Chikorita!" Lyra exclaimed as the pokémon fainted in front of her. "Aaaw! Chikorita, return! You were great!" she reached for her spare pokéball. "Lets see how you fare against MAREEP!" she exclaimed, the fluffy little sheep back in the full swing of battle.

"Ma-reep!" exclaimed the electric type, it's determined glare looking somewhat out of place on her face.

"Gust!" Falkner ordered. He knew that Mareeps ability was Static, meaning contact with her could mean instant paralysis. Paralysis meant a disadvantage, if he wasn't at a huge one as it is.

"Alright, start with Cotton Spore, lets go!" Lyra exclaimed, watching as Mareeps fur puffed up around her, making a soft shield. Once the whirlwinds of the gust blew away the soft spores, and nearly sent Lyra's hat over the edge, Mareep glanced back at Lyra, awaiting her next command. Adjusting her hat, Lyra grinned. "Thunder shock!"

"Ma-reeeeeeep!" Mareep exclaimed, letting out the weak pulses of electricity. Pidgeotto swiftly dodged around some of the electric sparks, but couldn't help the few that managed to brush his wings. The bird squawked in pain as one managed to sear his wings, feathers falling to the ground.

"Pidgeotto, stay calm! Use Roost!"

"Take Down!" Lyra ordered while Pidgeotto tried to heal himself. Mareep ran forward, jumping into the air and slamming into the flying type, though taking a little damage herself from the aftereffect.

"Pidgeotto!" exclaimed Falkner as electricity crackled around the bird. He squawked painfully, though it was meant to reassure his master. This did not help the gym leader much. "Gah... Twister!" Pidgeotto nodded, flying up despite the paralysis. He flapped his wings quickly, and like that, a raging tornado tore across the battlefield. Mareep shrieked in surprised as she got picked up and whirled around, fierce wind sending everything flying.

Lyra shielded her face with one arm, the other holding onto her marshmellow hat as her pigtails whipped around her head so quickly she was sure the elastic bands holding them in place would be torn free.

"Mareep, Thunder shock!" Lyra ordered over the blistering winds. Mareep shrieked, letting loose the thunderbolts at random, the wind sending them in random directions. "Gah!" Lyra exclaimed, just barely dodging the voltage that flew past her. She heard the shriek of a bird, and suddenly the winds died down, Mareep flailing to the ground, but saved herself by unleashing Cotton Spore, giving her a soft landing. After checking up on her pokémon, Lyra looked up, and saw Pidgeotto had fainted.

A grin broke out on her face as she scooped up Mareep, twirling around with an exclamation of joy. Falkner stared at this, saddened by the loss, yet slightly surprised that he lost, his father's cherished bird pokémon, lost. He shook his head. Yes, he decided, there certainly was some form of potential hidden under that silly marshmellow hat.

"...For pity's sake! My dad's cherished bird Pokémon..." he muttered, returning his Pidgeotto. "But a defeat is a defeat. All right. Take this official Pokémon League Badge. This one is the Zephyr Badge." Lyra took it from his hand, and grinned again, pinning it on the right strap of her overalls. She grinned at Mareep, the smile never leaving her face.

"Thanks, Falkner!" she exclaimed happily. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Now what to do next?"

"There are Pokémon Gyms in cities and towns ahead." Falkner said with a small smile. "You should test your skills at these Gyms. As for your next move..." he pondered thoughtfully for a moment, slightly amused with how the fourteen-year-old'd eyes stared up at him with as much innocent enthusiasm as many of the young children who lived in the city. "I would suggest Azalea Town. As for me, I'm going to train harder to become the greatest Bird Keeper of all!" Lyra nodded happily.

"Alright Mr. Falkner! I'ma gonna go to the next town! Good luck with your Bird training! SEE YAAAAAAAAA!" and like that, she was gone.

o.0.o.0.o

Lyra walked happily through the city, smiling as the new badge glinted on the sunlight. Chikorita and Mareep had healed up and now, she figured, she would head off to Azalea Town like Falkner suggested. Her pokégear rang, and she glanced at the number, not recognizing it. Regardless, she answered it anyways.

"Hello?"

"_Oh, hey Lyra! It's Prof. Elm!"_

"Hey Professor!" she exclaimed. "How's the egg?"

"_Great! It is, most certainly, and egg! And thats exactly why I called you! Well, you see..." _he paused, as if wondering how to phrase his next words. "_I want you to have the egg!"_

"REALLY?! That's awesome! I'll totally accept it!" Lyra shouted happily into the phone.

"_Well..." _Prof. Elm said awkwardly. "_That was rather easy. Anyways, my assistant is waiting in Violet City's pokémart. He'll transfer the egg to you there!"_

"Alright, thank you!" Lyra said happily, hanging up and jogging over to the pokémart, ecstatic that she got to raise the rare egg. Waiting patiently for the automatic doors to open, she tapped her foot, and then rushed inside.

"Hello? Are you Ms. Lyra Kotone?" a man with glasses and a lab coat asked. Lyra turned, and beamed.

"Yup! That's me!" she exclaimed happily. He smiled, holding the mysterious egg out to her.

"We still haven't figured out what kind of egg this is yet, but we found an article stating that if the egg goes to new places, it'll hatch. So we figured, maybe, just maybe, if we let it travel around with a trainer, it'll hatch. That was when the professor exclaimed, 'I know just the person for that!' and began to call someone. I figured he would've called Krystal or Ethan, but it was you..." he paused, pushing his glasses up his nose. Lyra felt a stab of dismay as he said this. Another person who didn't believe she was suitable... or at least not the first choice. A last resort. She forced a smile, figuring, well, at least the professor had faith in her!

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, taking the egg gingerly, carefully holding it in the crook of her arm. Chikorita scratched at her leg, and Lyra bent down for her starter to sniff curiously at their new team member. "See this, Chikorita? A pokémon is going to hatch from this egg! It'll be a member of our team soon!"

"Chik-a!" exclaimed Chikorita excitedly, looking up at Lyra with hopeful eyes.

"Good luck with the egg! Now I must hurry back to the professor. So much paperwork!" the assistant said, walking out, muttering something about paperwork and Krystals insane catching. Lyra blinked, and stared down at the egg, still cold to the touch.

"What are you, exactly?" She wondered aloud as she walked out the door. So caught up in her thoughts, she did not realize she was walking towards someone until she, well, slammed into them. "Whoops!" Lyra exclaimed, falling on her behind, thankful that the egg managed to stay safe. "Sorry!" She looked up at whomever she ran into, and saw that she managed to stay on her feet. Lyra pushed herself up, suddenly feeling slightly inferior to the beautiful kimono girl in front of her. The girl widened her eyes, staring at the egg in Lyra's hands.

"That egg..." she said before nodding. "You must be a very special person. Please take care of that egg, will you? It's very, very important." Lyra tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Okay!" she said. The Kimono girl nodded, walking away and spinning mid walk, before disappearing through the threshold of the town. Lyra looked down at Chikorita, and then shrugged. "So random!" she cried before jogging down the pathway to get to the next town.

o.0.o.0.o

**I really did try to fix it so that the gym battle was exciting, but I felt like I failed... UGH.**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	5. Expert Catcher?

**I figured I'd update this 'cause I can.**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

"Hey. We've picked up word on that expert catcher you all were so interested in." a grunt said to a man wearing a mask that resembled creepily to that of a joker. Said man turned, glancing at them curiously.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yeah... She recently set out on a journey by request of Prof. Oak. Said to be the best of the best... yet she's just a teen!" the grunt brought out a small touchscreen, pulling up a page and passing it to his boss. "We hacked into the professors computers, and for only being fifteen... She's got quite an impressive resume."

"Huh." he said. "Her name?" the grunt stiffened slightly. Being a man of few words, Mask certainly didn't hold back when it came to punishment.

"Uh... about that... the information is blocked. All we know is that the catcher is a girl..." the temperature seemed to drop as Protons steely gaze fell on the helpless grunt. "B-But we've got information saying that she's off to Slowpoke Well in Azalea town to capture a Slowpoke and its evolutions!" Masks steely gaze lowered down to the tablet, reading the information it provided.

Glancing at the picture, he saw a pigtailed bluenette standing with a pigtailed brunette and a boy wearing a backwards cap near Prof. Elm. So it must've been one of these two girls. He smirked. Seems there was some sort of crime, for police were swarming the place. He widened his eyes, seeing a flash of red in the corner, blurry, but there. Slowly, Mask zoomed in on the red, and widened his eyes seeing a mask all to familiar to his own.

"Bring Attila and Hun." he said, standing up and smirking behind the sinister mask. "Tell them I have a job for them."

o.0.o.0.o

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

the shriek echoed through the cave and outside of it, faintly reaching the ears of Silver as he walked towards Azalea Town. He whipped around, pokéball in hand, until he saw something rather amusing. Lyra he recognized instantly, along with two others, a boy and a girl, the first wearing a backwards cap and the other with bright blue pigtails almost as gravity-defying as Lyra's. The trio were running from an angry horde of geodude who rolled towards them with intent to kill.

"I don't know _why _you felt the need to sit on the leader, Lyra, what were you thinking?!" exclaimed the pigtailed girl.

"I dunno! I was tired, how was I supposed to know it was a pokémon?!" Lyra shouted back.

"Doesn't matter you two, just RUUUN!" exclaimed the male of the three while he ducked his head down while the geodude began throwing rocks at them. Silver's eyes trailed the trio as they ran back and forth, back and forth. Why weren't they attacking or defending themselves? Finally, his hand snatched a pokéball and released the Zubat that he caught in Union Cave, deciding he was going to put his poor ears out of their misery, when he saw something rather interesting. Lyra turned, letting out her Chikorita.

"Chikorita, Magical Leaf!" she shouted, pointing towards the horde. Silver widened his eyes. She didn't plan on taking on _all _of them, did she?

"Tododile! Water gun!" ordered the other girl. Silver narrowed his eyes. So she was the second pokédex holder. His eyes moved to the male. So is he...?

"Marill, water gun!" exclaimed the male. Silver nearly facepalmed seeing this. Of _course _a weakling like him would have a Marill. He glanced back at the Tododile. He certainly wouldn't mind having _that _pokémon on his team, though the trainer didn't seem like one who could easily be taken advantage of. Not like Lyra. He narrowed his eyes, looking at her arms. Was that... an egg? Where'd she get that from?

He shrunk the pokéball back down and clipped it to his belt. The slowly, he slinked back into the shadows, watching as the three teens took down the horde. The Marill seemed okay... but still nearly fainted in the end. Tododile fought viciously, spraying water guns and chomping at anything that got to close. Surprisingly, he was slightly, repeat _slightly, _impressed with Lyra's Chikorita, and how it seemed to have master hitting multiple targets with it's attacks. He shook his head, scowling. If Marill and Tododile weren't there, he was sure that the grass-type would be out cold.

"Yay!" Lyra exclaimed, throwing her fist into the air, punctuating their victory. He blinked. He must have been so wrapped up in his thoughts, he lost track of the battle. "We did it! Good job, Chikorita!" Silver rolled his eyes at her strange enthusiasm. Great way to make pokémon weak. "Great job Krystal and Ethan! You did great too!" So those were their names...

"Alright, so what now?" asked Krystal, serious expression never wavering.

"I'm heading through the Ilex Forest to meet my grandparents at the Breeding House. They said they wanted my help again to attract people. Young blood and all that." Ethan said. Silver furrowed an eyebrows. He must be a breeder. That made sense of why his pokémon nearly lost a battle against some Geodude even though he had a type advantage.

"I'm gonna stick around here. I'm gonna go to the Slowpoke Well!" Lyra said peppily. Krystal turned her head.

"I'm heading to Ilex also." she said. "I have to train the Vulpix I just caught." A trainer, he decided. Silver smirked to himself. He'd have to remember to battle her one day.

"Alright, see ya!" Lyra said, waving frantically with a grin plastered on her face as Krystal and Ethan walked away. Silver smirked, turning and walking away, shoving his hands in his pockets. He walked around behind the houses, away from people in case police somehow recognized his read hair-even though he highly doubted it. Suddenly, he was jostled to the side by a huge group of people.

"Watch it kid!" exclaimed one person as the others chuckled, the continued marching away. Silver widened his eyes, recognizing the signature half-mask of _them. _He looked through the group, trying to pick out a victim. Finally, he noticed a small, skinny girl at the end, maybe younger than him. This only turned his stomach more. Regardless, though, he slunk to the back, and using the training he learned, snapped his arm out, clasping his fingers around her neck, other hand atop her head.

"One sound and I snap you neck." he hissed into her ear. He felt her jaw clamp shut from the mid scream, and he slowly dragged her away from the group. "You will answer every question, got it? Anything else and you're dead." she nodded, though he did not move his hand. "Who are you?"

"W-we are the Masked Rockets!" she squeaked out. He nodded. Rocket wannabes.

"Not creative enough to think up your own name?" he smirked. She said nothing. "Why are you here?"

"I-I'm not exactly sure. My commander dispatched us to Slowpoke Well."

"Who's your commander?" he asked. She didn't answer, and his grip tightened. "Answer." he growled. She swallowed.

"Attila and Hun!" she exclaimed quickly. Silver widened his eyes. Those two...?

"Why are you going to Slowpoke Well?" he asked.

"Uh-Uh-um... we were told to go and take hostage a famed catcher who went on a journey by request of Prof. Oak and Elm." she was shaking now, and Silver knew why. Punishment was severe for releasing such information. "S-She was supposed to be going to Slowpoke Well to catch slowpoke and its evolutions a-and she has pigtails!"

Silver suddenly felt the blood in his veins run cold. Famed catcher? It couldn't have been Krystal... she was a trainer! All clues pointed to that, plus she went to train in the Ilex Forest! So maybe... maybe it was Lyra? She did have an egg he's never seen before... gotten it to fill up pages in the pokédex? Maybe that was why her pokémon were so undeniably weak? Because she was alway catching rather than training? And pigtails... It was hard to forget something like that. Lyra was heading towards that well right now...

"Get out of my sight." he hissed, releasing her and pushing her forward. She quickly got up and scrambled away in fear. Silver turned back towards the well he saw when he arrived. Yeah, Lyra was weak and overly cheery and so trusting and innocent that it made him want to tear his hair out, but that exact innocence was going to be taken if she so much as steps foot in that well.

There was no way in the fiery debts of hell that he was going to let _him _fuck up anyone else's life.

o.0.o.0.o

"Alright! Time for some training, Chikorita!" Lyra said happily, jumping off the ladder and landing in the well with a small splash. The egg twitched in her arms, almost as if it to was excited to train. Lyra smiled at this, and happily stomped through the damp walls of Slowpoke Well, almost like she was leading a mini parade.

She blinked curiously, realizing that there was little to no pokémon in this cave for her to battle.

"What? Where's all the pokémon? Hellooooo!" Lyra called. Chikorita looked around curiously as well. Lyra, slightly dejected, turned around to leave. "Ah, well. Guess we'll have to go train with Krys in the Ilex Forest instead. I wonder where all the pokémon have gone off, though?"

"It's not that they've 'gone off', so to say." Lyra whipped around and saw a large group of maybe ten or twelve people, all different ages, shapes, and sizes. There was one girl in front who seemed to be leading the group. "More like they're hiding," her right hand went to her chest, a gesture to show she was proud of her actions. "From yours truly." The only common trait she noticed was that they all wore half-masks on the left side of their faces. Half an upturned eye slot, half an downturned grin, half a demonic, jokerish face. She shuddered, but kept a small, somewhat forced grin on her face.

"Hey, since when was there a masquerade party going on in Slowpoke Well?" she asked jokingly. The lead girl cocked her head, the devilish grin on her face matching the one on her mask. She suddenly slashed her arm through the air, and Lyra found herself surrounded in a faint green dust. She blinked, then hacked as the dust entered her throat.

"Nighty night!" said the lead girl with a giggle before Lyra fell unconscious.

o.0.o.0.o

Silver didn't bother using the ladder. He leapt down the well, landing much like a Slaking. Rubbing his knuckles from the landing, he stood, silver eyes taking in the cavern. He walked forward, seeing almost no sign of a struggle, or anything for the matter. Maybe she hadn't arrived yet? Judging by her personality, she _seemed _like one to get easily distracted.

"_But then..." _he thought, hand reaching for a pokéball. "_Wouldn't that also mean the masked wannabes are still around?"_

Guard up, he continued forward, only sound being his own footsteps echoing across the walls. He didn't see anything completely out of the ordinary, only that pokémon all seemed to be moving towards one place. Deciding to follow the Slowpoke, he quickly came upon a group of cave pokémon, all of them gathered around one place. He blinked, then grabbed a pokéball.

"Cyndaquil, Flame Wheel." he ordered. His fire-type somersaulted in a burst of flames, fainting or scaring off all of the pokémon in one fell swoop. Cyndaquil, now sure that all enemies were gone, turned and looked up to his trainer. Silver said nothing, simply returning the fire-type to his pokéball.

He walked forward, stomach dropping unusually when he found a stupidly oversized white marshmellow hat with an even stupider red bow. He picked it up, squinting as a green dust fell from it, scattering onto the ground. He pinched a small bit between his black-gloved fingers, bringing it to his face.

"Sleep Powder." he scowled. He turned his gaze towards the ground, and saw a fine trail of the dust leading out of the cave. Balling his fist around the hat, he got up, smirking as he followed the trail.

Idiotic wannabes.

o.0.o.0.o

"Thanks Kurt!" Krystal called over her shoulder as she waved to the elderly pokéball maker. "I'll put your pokéballs to good use, okay?"

"Come visit us again, Krystal, Ethan!" exclaimed his granddaughter while waving happily. Krys smiled slightly, waving over her shoulder to the small girl.

"So, to the Ilex Forest now?" Ethan asked. Krys nodded.

"Yes. I plan to stay a while to capture the pokémon of the Ilex Forest." Krystal said. "You can go ahead to meet your grandparents, if you want, Ethan." The duo began to walk towards the forest, when someone suddenly called out their names.

"Hey! You two! Krysta and Nathan!" or at least it was close enough to their names.

"Just ignore it. He might be calling to someone else." Ethan said. Krystal shrugged, and both continued forward.

"Hey!" a black-gloved hand clamped onto Ethan's shoulder, spinning him around, forcing him to come face to face to a silver-eyed redhead. "Nathan, or whatever you name is, you're friends with Lyra, aren't you?" Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"What's it to you?" he asked. The redhead narrowed his own eyes, then moved his hand from Ethans shoulder, and held up a white marshmellow hat. Krystal widened his eyes.

"That's Lyra's! I got it for her for her last birthday." Krystal took the hat, staring at it, then glaring at the redhead. "How did you get it?" He scowled, crossing his arms.

"I didn't do anything to her, but I have a belief that she's been kidnapped-"

"Kidnapped?! You kidnapped her?!" exclaimed Ethan, grabbing the redheads shirt collar. He glared, reaching up and twisting his wrist. Ethan dropped his hand, hissing in pain while shaking it.

"No, _I _didn't kidnap her. Some Rocket wannabes did."

"Rocket... wannabes?" Krystal asked.

"Don't act like your stupid, you can't tell me you haven't noticed a bunch of half masked people walking around the forest and town while you were training, right?"

"Are you stalking us or something?" Ethan asked. "'Cause the last time I saw a masked person running around was when a redhead ran off with Prof. Elms Cyndaquil."

"So do you plan on interrogating every redhead you come across?" Ethan glared at the redhead, but said nothing. "Listen, a group calling themselves the Masked Rockets ran off with Lyra-"

"How do you know her name?" Krystal asked.

"We battled and she gave me her name. It's hard to forget a hat like that. She wanted me to give her my name, but I naturally refused." he rolled his eyes. "Now listen, they carried her off to the Ilex Forest, due to her expert catching skills-"

"Expert catching skills?!" exclaimed Krystal and Ethan at the same time.

"They wanted me..." Krystal whispered under her breath.

"You? _You're _the expert catcher?" the redhead asked. "I assumed you were a trainer..." he trailed off, looked off into space. He let out a low sigh. "Listen, I hate asking for help, but these guys are ruthless and they won't go short of killing Lyra once they figure out she isn't what they want. Don't ask me how I know, but you'll help me out, right, Krysta, Nathan?"

"It's Krystal and Ethan," Ethan said. "And I want to know your name. I'll help Lyra, but I'm not taking help from some nameless stranger."

"Fine then, _Ethan, _if you must know, my name is Gin."

o.0.o.0.o

Lyra sat down curiously, hands bound behind her back, bag and pokéballs gone, as well as blindfolded. She was sure her hat was gone, and she was pretty sure she was in some forest. She listened, but wasn't really picking up anything important. Finally, the blindfold was ripped off, and she glanced around.

She was in the Ilex Forest, she assumed, sitting near some sort of shrine. There was some sort of green glowing orb in the middle of the shrine, flickering in and out, almost like it was deciding wether or not to fly free or stay put. She saw the half-masked people all around her, and swallowed nervously as two important-looking people walked up to her. They were a man and a woman, the male blond and muscular, sunglasses covering his eyes. The woman was silver-haired and slim, though some sort of cold and calculating mind hid behind her eyes.

"So this is the expert catcher sent by Prof. Elm." the woman said. Lyra blinked. Expert catcher? They wanted Krys? What for?

"She doesn't look like much." the man scoffed.

"Yes, but looks can be deceiving, Attila." the woman said. The man scowled, crossing his arms.

"Whatever, Hun."

"Uh... I think you-" Lyra began, but was cut off.

"Your job is simple, and your job is catching." Hun said, cold indifference on her face.

"You're going to catch us Celebi." Attila smirked.

o.0.o.0.o

**Alright, so I made up the Masked Rockets. They're kinda gonna rival main Rockets. ^.^ So, you don't know who Attila and Hun is, look it up on Bulbapedia. They're some of my favorite villains in pokémon.**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	6. Vale

**I felt the need to update this, so I decided, da hell with it! I think it was that Soulsilvershipping bit that I read about in eonentitys _Strike Three. _Lolz, I'm in such a good mood.**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

Silver had to ask himself: _What the hell was he thinking asking for the help of Krystal and Ethan? _

His answer? Nothing. He had no idea why he was asking for help, to save that idiotic Lyra, no less. He was saving Lyra because these guys were ruthless, going no less than to kill. He didn't care if she was Lyra the idiotic naive brat or secretly the daughter of the mayor of Johto. This group, these wannabes, ruined to many peoples lives, including his own.

And besides, he's love to put his fist into Attila's face. He'd enjoy that, he knew. Silver would enjoy that very, very much.

"Hey, Gin," Ethan asked his face set into disappointment, showing exactly how much he disliked the idea of working with him. Silver scowled, wishing that this boy had enough sense to be quiet and remembering that he at least had a clear enough head to give himself a fake name. "So, what're we gonna do once we find Lyra? Are we gonna knock down the bad guys?"

"There is no 'we'." Silver replied coldly. "There is an I, and then there is a you. A you, as in, you two. _I _will distract the grunts and executives, _you _will get Lyra and lead her away. Got it?"

"No, I don't 'got it'." Ethan hissed back, spitting out the last two words with disdain. "You're gonna stay and fight, yet expect us to take a flight. She's our friend, we should fight as well!" Silver let out a sigh, and turned to look him in the eye.

"Humans generally have two instincts when faced with a situation." he said in a low voice.

"That's fight or flight, right?" Krystal asked. Silver ignored her.

"I, however, believe that there are three. Fight, flight, or fuck up royally." he paused, waiting to see if Ethan was still listening. "I'll do the fighting. It's your choice wether or not you want to take flight or fuck up royally."

"I'm not running." Ethan said stubbornly. Silver nearly facepalmed, but didn't. Glancing over him again, Silver decided that he seemed easily gullible, so maybe he would believe him if he told him to go around to take care of some nonexistent guards. Krystal, though... She's a harder nut to crack.

"Fine. Go around, there're guards on the other side. I need you two to get rid of them for me, and then I'll get Lyra and we'll meet up at Goldenrod." Silver said.

"And what if there're no guards?" Krystal asked skeptically, narrowing her eyes a fraction. Silver stared at her, fearing she caught onto his hastily made plan.

"Oh, knock it off, Krys! There's gotta be guards and I'm going to defeat them!" Ethan exclaimed, practically dragging the blunette away. Silver glanced at his form now getting smaller, then turned back to the direction he was going. So where was Lyra...?

He glanced up at the towering tree above him, then smirked. Crouching down, he then leapt up and grasped the closest branch. He continued this, climbing steadily until he reached the top of the tree, glancing around, his eyes settled on a strange green barrier in the center of the forest.

"Bingo." he smirked, hopping from tree to tree until he was directly overtop it. He took a flying leap, planning to land directly atop Attila's blond head, until the forcefield suddenly crackled at his contact, and he went flying back, landing painfully into a tree. "What the hell?" he wondered, pushing himself up.

Slowly, he walked towards the barrier and pressed his gloved palm against it. Electricity crackled around his hand, and he felt a slight burning through the cloth. He narrowed his eyes through the barrier, dropping his arm to his side. He saw a small shrine, a greenish orb taking form in the middle of it. Near the shrine was Attila and Hun, whom both had their arms crossed arrogantly over their chests. There were some half-masked grunts nearby with some strange machinery, and in the middle of it all was Lyra, who sat with her hands tied behind her back, stared up at this not in fear, but awe, like a child who came across Santa on Christmas.

Silver widened his eyes as he saw Attila bring out a knife. No way, they didn't figure it out yet, did they?! He backed up and rammed his shoulder into the wall, feeling the strange electricity crackle around him as it rejected him. Rage consumed him as he slammed his fists into the barrier, trying to figure out how to get this thing down.

"Get up," he heard Attila say as he dragged Lyra up, then slashed the knife through ropes, and pushed her forward. "Catch that green orb."

"But you guys-"

"No buts, catch it." Hun ordered, her voice cold, slicing through Lyra's words. Silver glanced at this, then back at the barrier. He'd have to figure this obstacle out before Attila or Hun figured out Lyra.

o.0.o.0.o

"Ethan!" Krystal exclaimed as she was being dragged behind the hyperactive boy.

"I'll show him! I'll show that stupid Gin that I can beat anyone!"

"Ethan!" Krystal exclaimed again. Letting out a sigh, Krystal skidded her heels in the dirt, forcing the young man to stop.

"Eh? Krystal, why'd you stop?" Ethan asked. He glanced down at their intertwined hands, then back at her, is face going red. "Wha-Wha-What?! Why the heck are we holding hands?!"

"Because you grabbed me and ran off!" Krsytal scolded. "Gin tricked us, can't you see? We haven't seen a single one of these 'masked rockets' that he kept talking about!" Ethan blinked.

"WHAAAAT?! How dare he send me on a wild pokémon chase! While he's off saving Lyra! I'll show him! I'll go and save her so I can say 'I told you so'!"

"Oh, hey What're you doing this far in?" a new, female voice sighed.

"What the...?" Ethan said, glancing up at the trees. Suddenly, a seventeen-year-old girl dropped down in front of them, her long, straight, knee-length dark brown hair-so dark it was nearly black- falling into place around her like a cape.

She was wearing a skin-tight black turtlenecked tank top with black leggings and knee-length white boots. Black fingerless gloves were on her hands, and white armbands wound around each of her biceps. Four gray belts wrapped around her waist in a cross crossed manner. Hanging from the belts was a white skirt that covered her hips and behind, then was cut off into what looked like a loincloth. Both Krystal and Ethan assumed that this was so that she could run easier.

Strangest of all, the left side of the girls face was covered by a white mask, a black upturned slit for a eyehole and a black downturned slit for an extremely creepy half smile. She stood up straight, her height rather astounding. Ethan guessed she was close to five-foot-eight, five-foot-nine.

"Hey." she said, pushing her huge explosion of bangs off the right side of her face. These bangs reminded them somewhat of a grim-reapers scythe, while longer hair framed the left side of her face, falling past her shoulder, and triangular bangs falling haphazardly across her forehead. One blue eye, lightest shade of blue that either teen had ever seen, shone from her face, the only light thing-along with her surprisingly pale skin tone- among all her dark hair and clothing. "Yo."

"Uh... Yo to yourself." Ethan said after a while, not quite sure how to respond to this strangely dressed girl's casual greeting.

"Why were you hanging out in a tree?" Krystal asked. The girl tilted her head up at the tree she was recently in, the masked side turned away for the briefest of moments, then she looked back at them.

"Why not?" she responded. "Listen, you two, take freedom while you got it. 'Cause you never know when it'll be taken away."

"Uh..." Ethan said after a while.

"You're a masked rocket grunt, aren't you?" Krystal asked. She turned her head to look at her.

"Grunt? I'm a specially trained _executive." _she said. She bit her lip slightly, as if she wanted to say more, but restrained herself. "I'm not supposed to be here right now, but the big man wants me to check up on Attila and Hun. And get rid of any unnecessary pains." she brought out a pokéball, and tossed it in the air. A pokémon that neither of them recognized popped out. It looked like the pokémon was wearing a kimono of some sort.

"Froslass..." the pokémon whispered.

"Uh, Krys... What is that?" Ethan asked, gripping the serious girls arm.

"Let's not do anything rash, now." Krystal said, flinching back as the unfamiliar pokémon moved its arms.

"Froslass, Ice Beam." the girl said, pointing at them.

"Hey, wait a min-" Ethan exclaimed before a rush of cold surrounded them. The girl watched as the bright blue light of the ice beam surrounded the two.

"Okay, you can stop, Froslass." she said. The ice-type obliged, turning to look at her trainer. "Return." Froslass went back to her pokéball, and she walked forward, seeing the two teens feet frozen to the ground.

"Wha-What the-?" exclaimed Ethan, jerking his legs to get his feet free. She saw Krystal reaching for her belt, but Vale thought better. She bolted forward, and with an almost amazing speed, snatched the pokéballs from both their belts.

"She must really care about you, boy," Vale said, glancing at the pokéballs, then placing that at the edge of the clearing, out of their reach. "To go and stay with you when she could've easily dodged the attack." Krystal felt her face heat up, but she forced it down. The girl smiled knowingly, like an elder sister.

"You aren't going to steal our pokémon?" Ethan asked with a scowl. She raised her visible eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?" she asked. Slowly, a shiny Umbreon emerged from the bushes, letting out a low growl to show that he had arrived. The girl turned towards it, smiling. "Hey Umbreon."

"Is that yours?" Ethan asked, staring at it in awe. She nodded in response, studying these pokéballs.

"These are sealed up pretty tight. Are you guys friends with a professional catcher?" she turned to look at them, both clamped their mouths shut. "Wait, one of you guys aren't actually the catcher, are you?" Again, no response. The girl narrowed her visible eye, then cursed. "Stay put!" she ordered. "Umbreon, come on!"

Then she bolted off into the debts of the Ilex Forest.

o.0.o.0.o

"Aren't you just the sneakiest little devil?" Hun sneered at Silver as he stood over a couple of unconscious and burned grunts, his Cyndaquil next to him. Good news, the barrier was down. He burnt the machine to a crisp, any grunt who dared to get in his way had to face the wrath of his Sneasel and Zubat. His Zubat, whom was just recently caught, was surprisingly agile and could stand its own in battle. It was a good catch.

"Huh? Hi Sil-" Lyra began, but cut off by the cool glare he shot at her. Hun smirked, and grabbed a pokéball from her belt, releasing a powerful Steelix.

"You don't plan on battling, do you brat? Look at your pokémon. They're all beat up." Attila said with a smirk. "And you, why the hell aren't you catching Celebi yet?"

"Celebi? Celebi is here?" Lyra asked innocently, like she was talking to old friends and not potentially dangerous criminals.

"That's none of your concern!" Hun shot icily over her shoulder. "Just do your job and catch it! You, on the other hand," she turned back to Silver and his Cyndaquil, who was growling menacingly at the Steelix in front of him. "Crush him!"

"Hun, Attila, stop!" a female voice suddenly exclaimed. Lyra saw a girl a little older than her burst through the trees, a shiny Umbreon at her side.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed, catching sight of the Umbreon. "It's different colored! That's so cool!"

"Vale." hissed Hun as the girl stood in front of Silver protectively, arms outstretched.

"You have the wrong girl." Vale said boldly and loudly, like she had complete control over the two adults. "That girl over there is nothing but an ordinary trainer. And look," she nodded towards the shrine, where the green orb of light was slowly fading away. Vale lowered her arms to her side, the glare on her face contrasting greatly to the jokerlike grin of her mask. "Celebi escaped."

"Because you barged in and interrupted!" Attila shot back angrily. "And what do you mean 'we have the wrong girl'? She went into the Slowpoke Well to capture pokémon!"

"She's nothing more than an ordinary trainer." Vale said calmly. "And I suggest you move out quickly. You two are admins, but I am your executive, and as your executive, I order you to move out." Hun ground her teeth together and Attila swore under his breath, yet surprisingly, backed up towards Vale. "Smart choice, you two." she said, tossing a pokéball in the air. "Gallade, send 'em back, okay?"

"Galla." the pokémon nodded his head, and with a slash of his blade-like arms, he disappeared with the two admins. Vale stood there for a moment, as if awaiting for her Gallade to return.

"So. I froze your friends to the ground up ahead." she said.

"Lyra, get back. She's dangerous." Silver growled out. Vale turned to look at him, though suddenly having the sharp claws of his Sneasel against her throat. Umbreon growled at Sneasel in protest, though did not move for fear of hurting his master. Her visible blue eyes fell onto the busted up machine.

"I see. You're pretty strong, huh?" slowly, she reached up and pried the Sneasel from her neck, setting it down gently before standing upright again. "How am I dangerous?"

"Anyone who's with them is dangerous."

"Hold on just a minute!" Lyra exclaimed, waving her hands back and forth in front of her face. "You two know each other?" Silver glanced at her then back at Vale.

"I honestly can't say if I know him or not. But you should be thankful I decided to keep the four of you alive." Vale said. Her Gallade appeared behind her suddenly, holding it's blade like arms out menacingly at any trainer who dares attack. "But you should watch your back. Not all people of the Masked Rockets are so merciful." And with that, she vanished in a flash of Gallades swift teleporting abilities.

Lyra blinked confusingly, glancing at Silver, whom had his eyes shaded over, then back at the place were Vale was.

"Did you know her, SIlver? Are you friends?" she asked. Silver scoffed, crossing his arms with a scowl.

"Please. And friend of a Rocket, wether it be a wannabe or a real one, would never be a friend of mine." he scowled, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back towards the town.

"Hey, Silvy, wait a minute!" Lyra exclaimed. Silver whipped around, and glared.

"It's Silver." he said. Lyra flinched under his glare, but continued to look at him.

"Can I borrow your Cyndaquil for a little while? Vale said she froze Ethan and Krys to the ground and-"

"Krysta has a Vulpix." Silver spat out, remembering that from earlier. "So go find them and help them out that way." And like that he walked off.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

o.0.o.0.o

"_Krystal... Krystal... KRYSTAL!" _

The blunette shot up in the bed of the pokémon center, slightly aware that there was a tiny, female voice seemingly calling out to her, yet the only other person in the room was Lyra, whom was out like a rock.

Krys turned her head to look at her brunette cousin, whom was, indeed, out cold, sprawled across the bed, Chikorita curled up next to her, the egg resting gently against a pillow on the floor. Krys really couldn't blame her. The stress of being kidnapped by the Masked Rockets must have taking a toll, and then she won her battle with Bugsy almost immediately after. Krystal herself knew that, with her constant training to battle and capture pokémon, she herself wore out along with her pokémon.

She looked at the clock and groaned. Why was she awake at one in the morning again?

She flopped back down onto her pillows, closing her eyes and smiling as sleep took hold of her again.

"_Honestly... Krystal! WAKE UP, KRYSTAL!" _

Krys bolted up. She did _not _imagine that.

"_Good... come on...!"_

Krystal groaned, and rolled out of bed again. She stood up, throwing on an old sweatshirt over her pajamas, and opened the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Why was she following this voice? It had to be a dream... it felt almost as if her body was moving on its own, like she had no control.

It was stupid to be walking around alone at night, all those warnings she got from her parents against doing that, yet here she was...

She clutched the sweatshirt tighter around her and moved forward. Suddenly, almost as if she knew where she was going, she came upon the shrine that Lyra had brought them back to, weaving a fantastical tale about how Celebi resided there. Krystal didn't believe it, and slowly, turned to walk away.

"_Stop...! Turn around, Krys... Inside..."_

"That voice again..." Krystal said, turning hesitantly back towards the shrine. She walked towards it, and looked around, almost as if someone would pop out at her and scold her for coming so close to it. She swallowed, and looked at the little pocket that was below the shrine. She blinked, seeing something round inside.

Slowly, she reached inside, and pulled out a strange, unfamiliar pokéball. It was gold and silver, with two strange symbols on the top.

"_Take... Yours..." _the little voice was getting fainter, and Krys stood, pressing her fingers to her temples.

"I'm going back to bed." she said. "Please let me sleep for the rest of the night."

With that, Krys turned back to go to the pokémon center, though she could not ignore the weight of the strange pokéball in her hand.

o.0.o.0.o

**I know what you're thinking. ARCEUS, it's one of THOSE stories with a completely unnecessary OC. Not true, really. Vale will have a huge roll in this story, especially with the character development of Silver and with the Masked Rockets. So what do you think about her?**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	7. Silver or Gin?

**So, I was surprised that so many people liked Vale! It made me really happy. ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon. Only Vale.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga;_

_Enlightening the Soul_

o.0.o.0.o

"This is ridiculous." Silver growled out. "There's no way I could lose to a wimp like you!"

"Aw, Silvy, we're dead even!" Lyra said. "If that Flame Wheel of Cyndaquils hadn't have missed, you would've won!" Silver glared angrily as he clutched his pokéball in his hand, as if willing Cyndaquil to be stronger, even though he had already fallen unconscious.

"It's Silver. _Silver, _not 'Silvy', stupid girl." he growled out. "You only won because my pokémon were weak, got it?"

"But I said we're even! We both got two badges, and we both-"

"We are _not _even." Silver sneered. "Not even close. You're weak." he crossed his arms and scowled. "I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around. That goes for Team Rocket, too. They think they are big and tough as long as they are in a group. But get them alone, and they're weak. I hate them all."

"Silvy..." Lyra said, but stopped when Silver shot her the coldest look she's ever received from someone her age.

"It's _Silver." _he spat at her, then moved in close to her face. Lyra swallowed.

"Silver?" she asked.

"You stay out of my way." he growled out. "You won't be an exception if you get in it, got it?" then he shoved her out of his way, without even waiting for an answer. He then stomped off into the Ilex Forest, not even looking back. Lyra blinked, then scooped up Chikorita, cradling her in her right arm, the egg in the other. She began to make her way through the small town to the pokémon center.

After her pokémon were healed and energetic again she walked out. That's when it hit her. Silver didn't even go to the pokémon center after their battle. She did a u-turn and went towards the pokémart, stocking up on double the medical supplies, for her and Silver. Her bad slightly bulging, she turned and began to walk towards the Ilex Forest.

"Alright," she mumbled to herself as she trekked on through the forest. "So we need to meet with Krys and Ethan at his grandparents..." she trailed off, then looked around. "Hey, Chikorita... recognize where we are?" she asked with a nervous giggle. Chikorita looked at her trainer, blinked, then shook her head.

"Chik-a..." she said discouragingly. Lyra sighed, scratching the side of her head.

"Alright then..." she mumbled to herself. "Guess we'll have to do this way!" she spun in a circle with her eyes closed, then opened them, her finger pointing in some random direction. "Aaaaaaannnd go!"

She began running in a random direction, laughing as the branches whipped past her. Chikorita was squeaking it's name out with as much happiness as it's trainer. She continued running till her sides were cramping, then fell over into the grass, breathing heavily.

"Chik-a?" Chikorita nudged at Lyra's face, concerned.

"I'm fine." she said, petting her starter on the head. She felt the egg twitch in her arms, almost as if it, too, was asking if she was alright. She took the egg, and pressed it to her forehead. It felt like a ice pack, almost. "I wonder what you are." she said after a while. "How much longer till you hatch? A day? A week? I'm curious, 'lil guy." There was a pause, and then another twitch. Lyra sat up, looking at it as twitched somemore, cracks forming along the edge.

"GAH!" Lyra exclaimed. "It cracked! Oh, Arceus, please don't let it be broken!" more cracks formed along the lines, and suddenly, the egg was glowing, forming into a triangular shape with tiny feet and hands. Lyra blinked as the glowing faded away, and she was suddenly holding a pokémon.

"Snow! Snorunt!" it exclaimed happily. Lyra beamed, looking at the small pokémon.

"Snorunt! Is that your name, little guy?" Lyra asked, looking at the small pokémon, then at her pokédex. "So you're an ice type, huh? A girl too!"

"Sno!" she nodded happily.

"Aw, welcome to the family!" Lyra exclaimed, pointing to Chikorita. "That's Chikorita, she's really sweet and this," she tossed another pokéball in the air, letting out Mareep. "Is Mareep. She's kinda feisty, so be careful, okay?" the two pokémon greeted themselves by exclaiming their names to their new partner. "My name," Lyra continued, holding up an empty pokéball. "Is Lyra! I'm your trainer."

After exclaiming a few more happy notes between her and her new pokémon, Lyra returned Snorunt and Mareep. She then pushed herself up and stood, deciding to set off again.

o.0.o.0.o

_"C'mon, we're almost there!" she shouted, shooting a glance over her shoulder as she practically dragged the eight-year-old behind her. A shiny eevee sat upon one shoulder, while a normal on sat on the other. "So close, Silver! Imagine, sunlight! Freedom! Imagine it, Silver, imagine!"_

_He could imagine it. He could feel it as if it were real. Yes, his lungs burned. Yes, he was gasping for breath, but with being so close, little things like this didn't faze him. Like she had said, he was close, so, so close to getting through those gates. Those gates to freedom. He could feel his Sneasel beside him-stolen, of course- attacking at the feet of the guards, tripping them up._

_"They'll never catch us, Vale!" he shouted excitedly. "Never, ever!"_

_"Nope!" exclaimed the ten-year-old with a laugh. Silver smiled, truly smiled since this hell began. Four long years... _

_"Find them! Find them at any cost!" someone announced over the loud speaker. "Injure them if you must, shoot, just find them!"_

_"Oh, Arceus..." he heard Vale mutter._

_"Vale-!" Silver exclaimed, a hint of fear in his voice._

_"We're fine! He won't get you! I'll be damned if either of us go back!" Vale exclaimed. Silver flinched as she swore, but quickly got over it as he saw the door to the gate. He grinned, imagining the dreaded mask off his face, the idea of what the older girl in front of him looked like. _

_"Vale, I'm excited!" he exclaimed. "I can't wait until we can get these masks off!"_

_"I know!" Vale said. He could imagine the smile on her face. This brought some form of comfort as the kept running. They heard the stomping of boots behind them, and Vale glanced over her shoulder._

_"Duo! Take Down!" she exclaimed, referring to the two Eevee's on her shoulder. They obediently leapt off, slamming into a couple of guards._

_"Stupid rats!" exclaimed a guard. They heard gunshots._

_"DUO!" Silver heard himself scream._

_"They'll be okay. They fired in the air." Vale said, though Silver noticed her voice shaking. He felt tears well up. Despite her being stolen, he cared about the Sneasel that ran obediently beside him. He had trouble imagining life without her._

_"Vale..." he sniffled. She tugged him into a darkened corner, out of sight. She pulled her mask off, and he was suddenly staring in the lightest shade of blue he ever saw._

_"Listen to me, Silver. I'm going to act as a distraction, you're gonna run out while they're coming after me." she said, surprisingly brave for a ten-year-old girl. Silver widened his eyes, shaking hands reaching up to pull off his own mask._

_"B-But Vale-!"_

_"No." she said, holding his hands. "Listen, okay? Just listen." he nodded, still shaking. "I don't want to see your face, got it? They're going to use me to identify you. But if I don't know your face, and you loose the mask, how are on earth will I identify a person whose face I don't know?" she smirked, and he swallowed. _

_"He'll kill you." he whispered out, horrified about loosing someone whom he considered a sister. She smiled, squeezing his hands._

_"He wouldn't. He needs me, and he needs you. That's why he's so desperate to capture us again." she sighed, and in an instant, a spotlight shined on them, and Silver got a full view of her face. She didn't show her fear. In one impressive movement, she shoved him out of the way and slapped the mask back on her face. Silver felt his legs kick in on instinct and running towards the gate, slipping out while the guards were getting a hold on Vale._

_He ran. He ran and ran until he couldn't anymore. He didn't know where he was, he didn't even know if Sneasel was still behind him or not. He just ran until he collapsed, heaving up everything in his stomach. He crawled away from his vomit, a good distance away, and then collapsed on his back, staring at the sky as he continued to take deep breaths._

_Weak. The word rang in his mind, over and over again. His weakness caused Duo to get shot. His weakness caused Vale to get captured. His weakness caused himself to get torn from his mother all those years ago. His mother... who was she? What did she look like?_

_Team Rocket. The words rang true in his mind. Who was Team Rocket? Was his mother associated with the them? To long, he decided. To long since he saw his mother. And where was his father? Did he have one?_

_"Snea? Sneasel?" he turned, and looked at the Sneasel he stole whom knows how long ago. It was shaking his arm, as if trying to check to see if he was alright. Weak, he thought. If he wasn't so kind to Sneasel, then maybe she would've been able to attack the guards instead of attacking at their feet, scaring them off. Maybe if Sneasel had attacked them, Vale would be sitting here, next to him, pointing out the constellations in the sky. He and she would be racing to find three constellations first, see who could do it. He opened his eyes, and looked at the sky._

_"One." he mumbled, spotting Draco the Dragonair. "Two." he growled, clenching his fist seeing Corvus the Murkrow. "Three." he stood, finding Lupus the Mightyena. Somehow, he felt slightly calmer, like he always had since Vale had taught him the trick. He got up, shaking Sneasel off, then taking her pokéball from his belt. He pointed it at her, and wordlessly returned her to the device._

_He began walking, night hiding his form, and he realized he had come across a city. The base must've been closer to civilization than he realized, or he just ran farther than an average eight-year-old. He believed the latter, considering the extensive training he was forced to go through._

_He walked into the town, and almost immediately an old piece of paper fluttered across his step. A poster of a missing child. He blinked, swiping it from the ground and studying it in the lamplight. He saw a picture of a young redhaired child holding a pokémon plush of a Cyndaquil. He honestly believed the child, with huge, innocent gray-silver eyes and a small smile, was a girl with the longish red hair until he read the information underneath it._

_Name: Silver Sakaki_

_Gender: Male_

_Age: Three_

_Hair Color: Red_

_Eye Color: Silver_

_Skin Tone: Pale_

_DOB: 12/24_

_Date Missing: 1/5_

_Hometown: Viridian City, Kanto_

_Last Seen With: Mother, Ariana (Athena)Sakaki._

_Contact Info: Ariana (Athena)Sakaki(mother)- 834-2342_

_Giovanni Sakaki(father)- 873-9098_

_TR(father's business)- 865-5736_

_"Well, they are certainly extensive..." Silver mumbled, looking at it again. He blinked, reading it over again. Red hair, silver eyes, and pale skin. Was this him? Was this his family? His mother and father? He squinted at the picture again. He couldn't tell wether or not this child was himself or someone else. Slowly, his eyes wandered down to the contact info. He moved to a payphone, and dug through his pockets for some change. Thankfully, he managed to pull up some change. He put the money in, and typed in the number for the mother._

_"_**_I'm sorry, this number is unavailable. Please contact-_**_" he hung up the phone, the money dropping into the change bin. Mother was a no-go. He tried the father._

_"_**_You have reached the number of Giovanni Sakaki. I am currently unavailable, but please leave a message-_**_" Father a no-go. He sighed, took his change, and tried the buisness 'TR'. It rang, once, twice, three times..._

_"Hello, you have reached the Team Rocket headquarters. May I interest you in a position to join?" a female asked on the other end._

_"No, I'm doing a school project." Silver answered smoothly. "I'm supposed to call numbers at random and question the bosses of business's about their family life. May I speak to the boss of this business?"_

_"Well, no... but I can offer you any information you need." she responded._

_"What is your boss's name?"_

_"Oh, Mr. Giovanni Sakaki!" she responded cheerfully._

_"Is Mr. Sakaki married?"_

_"Oh, he was, but his wife, Ms. Ariana, has become sickly with cancer, and left him for cancer treatment."_

_"Did they have any children?"_

_"Oh, yes! Young Silver was his name! Ariana took him with her, but recently, he disappeared."_

_"Disappeared?" Silver questioned._

_"Yes, like he was scooped up by a bird or something! Ariana called crying and sobbing about him, despite her condition! Now Mr. Sakaki is throwing himself in his work. I guess it's to forget that his wife is in stage three breast cancer and his son has disappeared."_

_"Now, where would Mr. Sakaki say is the ideal place to raise a family?"_

_"Hm... I would say Viridian City, Kanto. It's where he runs his business, you know, and he always loved the Viridian Forest. Always used to rant with his friend, Obsidian, that they were going to raise their kids , I remember-"_

_"So are you saying it's possible to find and meet Mr. Sakaki in Viridian?" a pause._

_"Why yes, I believe so. Between you and me, he actually inherited Obsidians Gym. Why?"_

_"I have to go now." Silver said, not even bothering to thank the woman for her time. He simply hung up the phone, and walked out of the payphone booth. He moved to one of those twenty-four hour convenience store and glanced at the half asleep store clerk. He moved to the maps, snagged one, and hid it in his jacket sleeve._

_"Excuse me." he said, just barely tall enough to look over the counter._

_"Huh?" the clerk asked, looking around._

_"Down here." Silver grumbled out._

_"Oh? Why are you out so late, little one?"_

_"I'm eight, and I have a pokémon. What city am I in?" the clerk blinked._

_"Violet City. Why?"_

_"Thank you." Silver turned and walked out of the store, the alarms not even going off with the map he had stolen. Once a good distance away, he pulled out the map, and traced the best route to Viridian. He'd have to build some sort of raft or steal another pokémon. He wasn't a fool. He knew that if he wanted to bring down the man whom kidnapped him, he'd also have to get the help of an adult. _

_And what better adult than his father, the gym leader?_

o.0.o.0.o

Silver jerked himself awake, almost immediately looking to the sky for constellations.

"Stupid," he groaned, slamming his head back down. "It's the middle of the day." Now he was even more irritated. When did he fall asleep? Did he collapse? Unlikely, due to his personality, but very likely considering he barely got a wink of sleep last night.

Vale.

Why were they back? It's been nearly six years since he heard from those masked wannabes, six years since he got away. And Vale, the girl who planted the seed of escape in his mind, was blindly following them. Who was she now? Was she still his 'sister', or did she morph into another one of those masked wannabes?

And his parents... Arceus, he hated his parents. His mother, for giving up, for never being there. His father... He hated that man even more. Giovanni Sakaki was not his father. He wasn't any sort of man, being defeated by a _fourteen-year-old girl. _He remembered her face, that Leaf Green as she stupidly protected him and her enemy. Why would she do that, he always wondered. Protecting a man whom as her enemy, a child she didn't know. Why?

After three years of wondering, Silver figured the girl, that Leaf Green, believed the situation reminded her of something else. The emotion was raw and written on her face. She wasn't seeing Giovanni or a masked twelve-year-old. No, something else. Another man. Another child.

But being beaten by her, and then _fleeing... _he was a coward. Silver swore to never be like him. Strong with many, but beaten so many time by one person... Then running. Leaving. Abandoning him after it took him so many years to actually find him. Was he happy that his son had returned? Not in the slightest. He wouldn't even listen to him, didn't even care to see his face. It was then Silver knew that he would never get the help he needed to rescue Vale.

But seeing her now... It didn't matter, he had decided. Vale didn't matter. His father didn't matter, his mother didn't matter, Leaf Green didn't matter. Yet he remembered quite vividly that night and that day. The day he escaped, the day Leaf saved his life. He swore he wouldn't be weak, he changed himself. He would forget those days he was weak, and he did.

He shut his eyes and let out a sigh. He was not weak. He was not like Giovanni.

"Silvy! Hey!" the second time that day, Silver jerked awake, slamming his forehead into something else about as hard. He grunted in pain as stars danced in front of him and whomever was standing over him fell back with a wine. "Ooooow. You're jumpy, aren't you?"

"What the-?" Silver asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, blinking away the stars.

"It's me! Lyra!"

"Oh, Arceus." he groaned, about ready to flop back down onto the ground. But he didn't, instead glancing at the brunette beside him, wondering what on earth she wanted now. "What do you want?" she responded by shoving a plastic bag in his lap. He glanced at it, then back at her.

"Your pokémon!" she said happily. "They fainted, and you didn't go to the pokémon center. So I went and bought some potions and stuff with some money and came in here to find you! Then we slammed heads..." she trailed off, grinning while Silver rummaged through the bag. He pulled out his pokéballs, letting out his Cyndaquil, Zubat, and Sneasel. Zubat let out a weak cry while Cyndaquil and Sneasel remained silent. He tossed the bag to Lyra. She glanced at the bag, then back at him.

"Well?" he said, gesturing at them. "Do your little potion healing thing or whatever."

o.0.o.0.o

"And then Ethan fell into the water, sopping wet! When he came up, a Magikarp was flopping around on his head!" Lyra exclaimed laughing. Silver tried, and failed, to hide the smile forming on his lips. After Lyra had worked at healing up his three pokémon, she absolutely _insisted _on bringing him to her next stop, some breeding house.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he begrudgingly agreed. He knew that she knew that she had all the information to turn him in and have him arrested for thievery. Plus, he technically owed her for healing up his pokémon, and Arceus knows what would happen if he owed her a favor. He was already thinking up a million possibilities that this girl could think of, half of them not to particularly enjoyable to him.

Now he was listening to Lyra babble on and on about childhood memories, and he had to honestly admit that the idea of Ethan sitting in a lakebed with a magikarp on top of him was amazingly humorous. Strangely enough, he also found that he was enjoying her constant chatter. If it was anyone else, he would've probably punched him or her in the face by now. But somehow, it was satisfying listening to her go on and on and on about absolutely nothing that was important to him.

"Ah, Lyra!" exclaimed an elderly man in front of a building. Lyra turned, a huge grin breaking out on her face.

"Papa!" exclaimed Lyra, throwing her arms around his neck. Silver stood awkwardly to the side, not sure how to address himself. "Silver, this is Ethan's grandfather, but everyone calls him Papa or gramps or something like that."

"Nice to meet you, ma boy!" exclaimed the elderly breeder, shaking his hand to a point of nearly wrenching his arm off. Silver grunted in response. "Come on inside now, Lyra! My wife should be nearly done with dinner! You can introduce Silver to Helen and Ethan, then catch me up on all the new stuff going around lately and how your journey is going!"

Lyra half led half dragged him through the door, where he was immediately bombarded by the scents of a homecooked meal. He heard the chatter of people, and immediately recognized Ethan and Krystal's voices. If it weren't for the elderly man behind him and Lyra beside him, he was sure that he would've turned and bolted.

"Ethan! Lyra is here! And she has a boy with her!" cue the clatter of whatever was going on to be dropped.

"A boy?!" exclaimed Krys as she momentarily lost her serious composure and walked out to greet her cousin. When her gaze landed on Silver, however, her eyes narrowed accusingly. "Gin?"

"Gin?" Lyra asked, looking at Silver. "Silver, who's Gin?" Silver could think of a thousand ways to explain away this, to escape this situation, but one word managed to ring true in his mind.

_Shit._

o.0.o.0.o

**Tired... review, please...**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


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